Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1887-07-30

CHIEF JUSTICE WAITE.
| Concerning the Ohioan at she Head Oi
| the Nations Judiciary.
Ex-congressman Hill, Of Defiance, Ohio, talket
most Interestingly at Toledo the other day to {
! correspondent of the Cleveland Leader. The g1s
| OF the talk follows:
| Representative Hill has known Chief Justics
Waite for twenty five years, and he says thai
Waite Is one OF the trio Of old men from North
| western Ohio who are possessed Of most remark
able intellectual and physical vitality. They an
all In the full possession OF their every faculty
| And it is strange coincidence that they started
| their lives as friends and that now in their ole
age they keep up the closest OF social relations
| These three men are Chief Justice Waite, Civil
| Service Commissioner EdgertOn, and Judge Alex
ander s. Latty, Of Defiance. Latty and EdgertoI
Ngerton, with his gray hair, has frame Of
| iron, and he tells me that he has few days Of
sickness and that he can be upon his feet all day
Northwestern Ohio when 1t was little more than q
wilderness. Waite was son Of the chief justice
Gated at Yale in the same class with VIM. NJ. Evarts
studied law with his father, and during the term
OF Martin Van Buren, had come West to Ohio prac.
tice. He soon jumped into big business. He lived
well but did not save much money, because, as
Representative Hill says he charged too little for
ScTFlCeS. WTltlDR DTleI at tuc T6QutSG VI
the Defiance County commissioners in a case In
yOlvtng $4,000. Hill says he charged only $50.
HIS brief settled the case and had 1t been written
have been 1000 instead Of $50 Waite's first case
In Defiance County was tried shortly after his adj
ecSnd to the oa S was ne6 IN sn
stands, and Waite was terribly wOrsted by q
young man who had more voice than brains, and
prosperous old man. Waite was once member
OF the Ohio State legislature. He once declined a
position On the Ohio supreme bench, and Grant
sent him, in connection with his old classmate,
William NJ. Evarts, as one OF the counsel Of the
Geneva arbitration.
He was given the appointment OF Chief Justice
of the Supreme Court without having asked for 1t,
and having no idea that 1t would be rendered him.
Representative Hill tells me how the matter was
first called to Grants attention, and of little
meeting at Toledo, which secured Waite the
appointment Grant was travelling over the
United States, and when he came to Toledo a
m1ttee on arrangements was composed Of
Wa1te'S friends, and they were anxious that
G fnn should appoint Waite to his
make the address OF the occasion. He did this
In a mastery manner, talking to Grant as be-
nauseous adulat1on which was SO common to
Grants receptions at that time. Grant was de-
lighted with the effort. He had known Of Waite
somewhat in connection with EvartS. He knew
him to be man Of the utmost probty, and of no
political aspirations He made inquiries about
hum, and concluded that he was the proper man
10 take the place left vacant by Chief Justice
Chase. He appointed Waite, and no better choice
was ever made for such a position. Waite &C
TO
nOw."
when did you first meet Judge Waiter" asked.
Hill. 81 had case in which Judge Waite, then
noted Toledo lawyer, was employed by the Op-
posite side. Waite had already made great rep
utatlon, and approached the case with fear and
trembling. We took the testimony together in
private, and after we had it all before us. before
@ n la submitted Il to the Judge Mr. Waite asked
lunch he told me that he thought we could settle
that case Just as We'll as Judge Latty, and asked
me If would be willing for him to fix the terms
OF settlement. I replied that that was rather
9. strange method OF procedure, and would
like to know how he would setLle 1t first. He
then made plain statement Of the justice Of
the case, and proposed settlement in accordance
with this. His idea as to how the case should be
settled was exactly the same as mine, and could
not have asked for better treatment. / don't be-
leVe That Waite ever advocated the cause of dis
honest client, and don't think he would have
taken case which he thought contrary to Justice.
He might have made fortune at his law had he
charged the ordinary fees, for he had a very
large practice. He was not very rich when he was
what would be called wealthy now. He made one
large fee that know OF, and that was $4,000,
which he received for his services in connection
with the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad
cases. He has house in Washington and some
property In Toledo. He has a son, who is lawyer
In Toledo, and his daughter. Miss Mary, is very
From the history or the Waite family get
some very interesting facts. The Wa1tes original
ly came from England, and Thomas Waite, one OF
Chief Justice Yates ancestors, was one OF the
Judges who signed the death warrant OF Charles /.
The Waites have coat OF arms which was granted
10 the family In 1912 The family settled In MaSSa
chuSettS at an early date and there intermarried
with the GrtswOlds, and the Waites for q long
time seem TO have adopted the legal profession.
Marvin Waite, who cast his vote for George
Judge: / have ALREADY said that there ' Were
Wa1tes father was chief justice Of the CON
nect1cut supreme court. Unlike his son, however,
Waite's father retired when he got to be seventy,
and he died at the age OF eighty-twO. Watte'S
great grandmother Was large, handsome woman,
but so religious that she never allowed any cook
Ing or sweeping in her house on Sundays, and the
family had to put up with cold victuals. Yale
has been the college to which Waite's ances-
tors in this country have uniformly gone,
tice Yates wife was his cousin, and that
both himself and his wife have the same
maternal great-grandfather, Col. Selden, OF
Revolutionary lame. The house In which Waite
was born still stands at Lyme, Conn. 1t Is a COM
Portable twO-stOry building with ridge roof, and
with pretty lawn surrounding 1t. His home In
three or four Stories on street. between 14th and
18th. He lives WE'LL and often gives dinners TO his
Fellow Judges and other noted people OF WASH
1ngton society.
saw Chief Justice Waite few days before I
lett Washington. He has entirely recovered from
MS illness OF year or SO ago. and he appears to
be able to stick 70 the Supreme Bench as long as
life sticks TO his bones He Is already eligible to
retirement but, like other OF his feliow-septuage-
his salary to having the Government pension him
at the rate OF $4,000 year. He wears his seventy
years exceedingly well. His eye Is bright and his
step is firm, and The wrinkles in his dark square
face are few, His beard is, however, beginning to
grow gray, and his black hair is already tinged
with bright silver: He makes an excellent Chief
Justice. and the integrity Of his decisions has
never been questioned.